Strange Darling

''The film's structure is non-linear, but this plot summary is written in a linear fashion. The order of the chapters as shown in the film is Chapter 3, 5, 1, 4, 2, 6, and then the Epilogue.'' Chapter 1: "Mister Snuffle" — In rural Hood River County, Oregon, a woman ("the Lady") meets a man ("the Demon") and the two go to a local motel to have sex. Prior to renting a room, the Lady explains to the Demon the risks women take engaging in such behavior, and makes him answer whether or not he is a serial killer. After he says no, the Lady agrees to proceed, and asks that she and the Demon engage in hyperrealistic sadomasochistic roleplay in which he pretends to be a murderer, and she his victim. Chapter 2: "Do You Like to Party?" — After hours of roleplaying, the Lady insists the two use cocaine before having sex, to which the Demon agrees. When the Lady begins acting cold and denies the Demon sex, she reveals that she has in fact dosed him with ketamine, which renders him severely sedated. The Lady, in fact a prolific serial killer herself, dubbed "the Electric Lady" by the media, carves the initials of her moniker into the Demon's chest. While rifling through his belongings, she discovers a law enforcement badge, revealing that he is a police officer. The Lady prepares to stab the Demon to death, but as he regains his faculties, he shoots her ear off with his concealed pistol (presumably retrieved while she was in the bathroom). The Lady flees the motel in a stolen car after stabbing the desk clerk to death, and is pursued by the Demon in his truck. Chapter 3: "Can You Help Me? Please?" — On a rural stretch of road, he shoots at the vehicle, causing her to crash and flee on foot into the woods. The Lady stumbles upon the farmhouse of two eccentric hippie doomsday preppers, Frederick and Genevieve, who take her in. Chapter 4: "The Mountain People" — While Genevieve goes to retrieve medicine for the Lady, Frederick attempts to phone the police, but the Lady stabs him to death and forces Genevieve outside. The Demon arrives on the property with his rifle. Genevieve seizes the opportunity to flee into the woods, while the Lady retreats back into the farmhouse and hides in a chest freezer. Chapter 5: "Here, Kitty, Kitty ..." — The Demon begins searching the house, shooting into objects where he thinks the Lady might be hiding, tauntingly calling out "Here, Kitty, Kitty". He eventually finds her and shoots through the ice chest, wounding her arm. Chapter 6: "Who's Gary Gilmore?" — The Demon handcuffs her to the chest before calling fellow sheriff Pete and his deputy, Gale, for backup. The Lady tells the Demon she had always hoped to die like Gary Gilmore, and tearfully confesses that, during their earlier sexual encounter, she felt a fleeting moment of true love for him. She then sprays him with a can of Genevieve's bear spray. A struggle ensues during which the Lady bites into the Demon's neck, tearing into his carotid artery, causing him to bleed to death. As he dies, she steals his concealed pistol. Pete and Gale arrive at the house, and find the Lady lying handcuffed to the freezer with her pants pulled down. She claims the Demon, high on cocaine, kidnapped her and took her to the farmhouse to rape and murder her, unaware that the home was occupied. Pete is skeptical of the scene and insists that the homicide unit investigate before they free her, but Gale convinces him that the Lady should receive immediate medical attention. As the officers escort the Lady by car toward town, Genevieve appears along the road and flags them down, but the Lady shoots her before she can explain what happened. The Lady then confiscates both of their guns before ordering Gale out of the car. Epilogue: "The Electric Lady" — Pete drives the Lady farther down the road before she has him stop so she can consider her next move. When Pete asks her why she kills, she tells him that she sometimes "doesn't see humans, just devils". The Lady then kills Pete. The Lady stumbles on foot farther down the road, when another woman driving a truck picks her up. Gazing at the sideview mirror, the Lady sees a brief flash of "a devil" in her own reflection. When the Lady draws her pistol, the driver quickly fires first, shooting the Lady. The driver calls police from her cell phone, explaining she just shot a stranger in self-defense and that she is en route to the local hospital. The Lady (who begins convulsing from the gunshot) looks on until she loses consciousness and dies. ==Cast==

Writer-director JT Mollner conceived of Strange Darling in 2021 as the film industry began to emerge from the COVID-19 pandemic. Within six months, he had completed the script and begun shooting, making it the fastest film production process he had ever experienced. Mollner described the writing process as the easiest he had encountered in his career. He explained that this screenplay "kind of wrote itself," attributing its fluidity to the extensive time he had spent conceptualizing the project prior to writing. Elaborating on the concept, Mollner stated: "I was drawn to the image of this final girl running through the woods. And I kept seeing that, and I knew it was a trope, except the way I saw it was there was dressing on the image that I saw, that that made it unique to me, the scrubs and the music and the frame rate, the slow motion I wanted to shoot, and the lens. I had this very stylized image in my head, but I wanted to make sure, beyond just style, there was some story here, or a unique side of a character we could show that we hadn't seen in other films, not just horror films, but films about people who are being pursued or in distress." However, at the end of the credits there is the standard text: "The characters and events depicted in this photoplay are fictitious. Any similarity to actual persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental." ==Production==

On September 27, 2022, Deadline Hollywood reported that the film was shooting in Portland, Oregon. The film was produced by Bill Block, Steve Schneider, and Roy Lee, with cinematography by Giovanni Ribisi (who made his feature-length cinematographic debut on this film). He used 35 mm film for the shooting. The production faced significant challenges, shutting down two days into filming due to negative feedback from film executives, who stated “we hate everything about what you're sending us. We're not enjoying this at all. And we're not sure if this is going to work.” Executives also asked that Willa Fitzgerald be recast. Mollner described this experience as “traumatic,” fearing that a permanent shutdown would jeopardize his future prospects as a filmmaker. Producers Lee and Schneider argued that the financiers resume production, stressing that millions had already been spent and that “We're either going to do [the movie] this way or not do the movie at all.” Due to the almost week-long shutdown during filming and resulting budgetary constraints, a major river set piece was cut. After filming wrapped, tensions continued over the film's non-linear narrative structure. Without Mollner's knowledge, Miramax hired another editor to recut the film as a linear story. Mollner told Miramax CEO Bill Block that he would have his name removed from the film if it were released in sequence and even went as far as to remove it during his own cut of the test screening. Tiffany Haddish, an acquaintance of Mollner, viewed an early cut of his version and also argued that Block accept Mollner's version. In accordance with his contract, Mollner was granted a test screening of his cut. Following a highly successful audience response, Block ultimately granted Mollner the final cut and later apologized to Mollner for the difficult production. ==Release==

The film had its world premiere on September 22, 2023, at Fantastic Fest held in Austin, Texas. In March 2024, Magenta Light Studios acquired North American distribution rights to the film. An early access screening took place at select U.S. theaters on August 14, 2024, followed by an exclusive live-streamed Q&A session from the AMC Lincoln Square 13 Theater with writer-director Mollner, cinematographer Ribisi, and star Fitzgerald, moderated by Carla Gugino. The film opened in Australia on August 22, 2024, Strange Darling was released on VOD on October 1, 2024, via STX Entertainment. ==Reception==

Box office , the film has grossed $4.9 million worldwide. Critical response received widespread praise for her performance as "the Lady". Thomas Floyd of The Washington Post praised the film's performances and Ribisi's cinematography. Jeannette Catsoulis of The New York Times similarly praised the film, writing: IndieWire's Alison Foreman awarded the film an A rating, concluding: American filmmaker J. J. Abrams stated: Accolades == References ==